À (to) and de (from, about) are the most common prepositions in French, and the choice of the preposition à or de before an infinitive is purely idiomatic; that is, it is unrelated to meaning. In such cases, one must memorize which preposition is used.

When you take a test, later in your learning path, you will, without a doubt, be asked a question based on how well you know which preposition to use with each country. This type of question is popular because it tests two areas of knowledge at the same time. The first is being able to identify a country’s gender, and the second is being able to choose the correct preposition.

Examples:

1. Thomas part en vacances … Canada. (au/à/en)

Answer: au, Canada is masculine, so “au” is used. If the country is feminine, “en” is used. Most countries that end in a soft “e” are feminine, i.e. France.

2. Je vis … Irlande depuis deux ans. (au/en/à)

Answer: en, If the country is feminine, “en” is used. Most countries that end in a soft “e” are feminine, i.e. Irlande.

To help other students with this unique French obstacle, this interactive map was created:

I’ve heard many people say that they wish they had learned prepositions alongside the verbs that use them. Duolingo really did not cover that particular subject matter in their prepositions section. Prepositional verbs are important, and these two videos help cover the subject matter.

This video covers verbs with à following, followed by a verb or a noun.

This video covers verbs with de following, followed by a verb or a noun.